PFW Aerospace has ordered
a high-specification tube
bender from Unison to
support its production
contract for the Airbus A350
XWB aircraft, which is
scheduled to enter service in
2013. The precision bending
machine will be employed by
the aerospace supplier to
manufacture the fuel and
bleed air tubing systems for
the wings and fuselage.

The machine, which will
be delivered in Q3 2010, will
extend the tube fabrication
capabilities of PFW
Aerospace’s manufacturing
facility in Farnborough. Its
all-electric architecture will
support the company’s lean
manufacturing strategy and
save costs by reducing
material waste, lowering
energy consumption, and
speeding machine set-up.

Among the advanced
capabilities made possible by
the machine’s servomotorbased
architecture is precision
bending at extremely slow
speeds. This attribute will be
used in particular on titanium
tubing parts, to exert fine
control over material flow and
the finished wall thickness.